The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1927. MILLIONS FOR HOUSING!

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 41, 11 May 1927, Page 8

The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1927. MILLIONS FOR HOUSING!

THERE is no lack of special legislation in this country for promoting the housing of its people with reasonable comfort. Dwellings may be provided not only by the State itself, but also by local authorities, employers, associations of public servants, and public-utility societies, the Government advancing the money on comparatively easy terms of repayment. In legislative theory, New Zealand should be able to boast of holding the best-housed people in the world. In actual practice, it is a far pitch below that standard. All the aggregated aids to comfortable housing have failed, so far, to abolish the necessity of many families to herd in crude apartment houses and impoverished flats at rentals beyond reason in relation to the limited accommodation and meagre comfort provided. Those who own modern places will have no cause to take umbrage at a general truth; the others, who traffic in dingy rooms and polished verandahs ought to be very grateful for the freedom given to them by slack municipal authorities. Certainly, the housing problem is not as acute as it was a few years ago, but there still is a marked shortage of cottagedwellings available either for purchase or for lease at reasonable cost or rent. There was once a halcyon time in this country when a day’s wage was considered to be the measure of a worker’s financial capacity to pay rent. That happy day has gone, and not all the King’s statesmen and highly-paid politicians are able to bring it back again. In this country they have not hesitated to encourage the arrival of fifteen thousand immigrants last year, but have they provided over 3700 houses for them throughout the Dominion? Such is the number required for these strangers, if they are to enjoy the same house room alloted to the whole population. As a matter of fact the Government has done nothing in a special way to meet the increased demand for houses at a moderate rent. Herding must necessarily increase. The Minister of Finance realises the position, but cannot promise any great relief. On the contrary, Mr. Stewart, in a policy statement at Feilding the other evening, made it clear that a limit must be set to State advances for the building of dwellings. The Government is finding it beyond its financial resources to meet the “enormous demand for millions” to finance farmers and houses, and is about to explore new sources of ways and means. Another experiment is to be made in the direction of advancing money to farmers on mortgage bonds under the Rural Advances Act. If this experiment be successful, the scheme may be extended so. as to provide loans for housing in the cities. The Minister believes that there is a good deal of money lying about for investment in housing bonds, and suggests that if citizens’ committees in each centre made a patriotic appeal for funds the difficulty of providing houses could be overcome without the Government piling more loans on to the mountain of public indebtedness. It is a fine idea, but Mr. Stewart ought to know that financial patriotism means dividends and fat rates of interest. What is wanted first is cheaper land, cheaper material, quicker work on construction, and the abolition of commercial and industrial monopolies.